Ranking Management Thinkers

Santiago Iñiguez, Dean of Instituto de Empresa.

Almost everything could be subject to a ranking. Stuart Crainer and Des Dearlove, well-known writers specialised in management, in association with EFMD have recently published the 2005 list of the top 50 business thinkers that I have placed below:

Top 50 Thinkers, 2005
(2003 ranking in brackets)

1. Michael PORTER (2)
2. Bill GATES (20)
3. CK PRAHALAD (12)
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Tags(clickable): mba,  management, ceo, leadership, management education

4. Tom PETERS (3)
5. Jack WELCH (8)
6. Jim COLLINS (10)
7. Philip KOTLER (6)
8. Henry MINTZBERG (7)
9. Kjell NORDSTROM & Jonas RIDDERSTRALE (21)
10. Charles HANDY (5)
11. Richard BRANSON (34)
12. Scott ADAMS (27)
13. Thomas STEWART (37)
14. Gary HAMEL (4)
15. Chan KIM & Renée MAUBORGNE (31)
16. Kenichi OHMAE (19)
17. Patrick DIXON (46)
18. Stephen COVEY (16)
19. Rosabeth MOSS KANTER (9)
20. Edward DE BONO (35)
21. Clayton CHRISTENSEN (22)
22. Robert KAPLAN & David NORTON (15)
23. Peter SENGE (14)
24. Ram CHARAN (-)
25. Fons TROMPENAARS (50)
26. Russ ACKOFF (-)
27. Warren BENNIS (13)
28. Chris ARGYRIS (18)
29. Michael DELL (33)
30. Vijay GOVINDARAJAN (-)
31. Malcolm GLADWELL (-)
32. Manfred KETS DE VRIES (43)
33. Rakesh KHURANA (-)
34. Lynda GRATTON (41)
35. Alan GREENSPAN (42)
36. Edgar SCHEIN (17)
37. Ricardo SEMLER (36)
38. Don PEPPERS (48)
39. Paul KRUGMAN (40)
40. Jeff BEZOS (39)
41. Andy GROVE (26)
42. Daniel GOLEMAN (29)
43. Leif EDVINSSON (-)
44. James CHAMPY (25)
45. Rob GOFFEE and Gareth JONES (-)
46. Naomi KLEIN (30)
47. Geert HOFSTEDE (47)
48. Larry BOSSIDY (-)
49. Costas MARKIDES (-)
50. Geoffrey MOORE (38)

(Source: Suntop Media: Thinkers 50 - the 2005 global ranking of business thinkers)

The list is based on 1,200 votes of a public poll and, according to the authors, the number one would have been again Peter Drucker if he had not died just days before it was published. Interestingly, the list includes a combination of academics, practitioners and "gurus", showing how theory and practice are so closely interwoven in the generation of ideas, at least according to the opinion of the general public.

The prominent position in the list of Bill Gates makes me reconsider rereading some of his thoughts on management. I frequently mention a sentence of his first book, "Road to The Future" (1995) when I grefer to the impact of technologies in management education: "There is a fear, commonly shared, that technology will replace teachers. I can emphasize, without doubts, that IT WILL NOT" (capitals as in original).

Let me make a final comment on the list: it has few novelties. There are no young (under 50) leaders of thought, only four women and just one "latino": the Brazilian Ricardo Semler. As such, it is a confirmation of the "guru status quo".

Comments

[MMB]

Regarding 'young leaders of thought.' Do you mean under 40? At first glance, I see three young thinkers. Scott Adams, Jeff Bezos and Michael Dell are all under 50.